Happy Fool Day

Another great, funny drawing from Dad for my husband Christian's birthday which is on April Fool's Day. For new readers, Christian is a stand up comedian. I'm not sure why I look like a Latina. Click here for last year's birthday card from Dad to Christian.

Caption Contest

I caught this caption on CBS' online streaming of Survivor episode 4 Bill who, when talking to his male teammates, always refers to them as "Bro". Here, he is suddenly French.

I don't know why but it tickled me.

What are funny captions you've seen? Submit your entries by Sunday, March 18th at 6PM and my favorite one will receive an autographed copy of BURN DOWN THE GROUND: A MEMOIR.

Songs in ASL

Mom and I sang songs in American Sign Language (ASL) at my book release party celebrating the publication of my memoir BURN DOWN THE GROUND. It was the best night of my life, much in part because my mother was there to share in the celebration.

We didn't practice (Mom signs that in the beginning, in fact) and Mom hasn't been on stage in over 25 years, but it was fun. I'll never forget it.

Name Calling & Rush Limbaugh

I'm seeing lots of Tweets and Facebook status updates calling Rush a "fat deaf pri*k" and the like for his recent comments about Sandra Fluke. Here are two examples:

Comedian Judy G0ld on Facebook
All I can say is - FU*K YOU RUSH - YOU FAT PIECE OF SH*T WOMAN HATING DEAF DRUG ADDICT.

And @patty_bray on Twitter
Rush Limbaugh is a recovering drug addict, deaf, married 4 times, escaped Viet Nam with a high draft number. Likes Viagra and cigars.

If you disagree with his comments, the petty name calling does nothing to validate your opinion.

Why bash Rush Limbaugh for being deaf? His deafness doesn't make him dumb. His actions & words do.

Happy Birthday to My Book!

Happy birthday to my book!
Happy birthday to my book!
Happy birthday dear Burn Down the Ground: A Memoir!
Happy birthday to my book!

After a long gestation process, I'm happy to announce the birth of my book Burn Down the Ground: A Memoir. The reviews are in and they're raves!

Easy purchase links: WalMart, Target, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iTunes, Indie Bound and on KambriCrews.com

"Poignant and unsettling." —Kirkus Reviews

"Crews' story has heartbreaking depth and complexity...this is a rich read.” —Library Journal

"A compelling testament to the strength of the human spirit.”—Booklist

“Harrowing . . . A remarkable odyssey of scorched earth, collateral damage, and survival." —Publishers Weekly

 "Crews' account (the title refers to lighting brush on fire to clear out snakes) is as well-paced and stirring as a novel. In her fluid narrative (she's also a storyteller on the side, a gig that helped her develop this book), Crews neither wallows in self-pity nor plays for cheap black-comedic yuks. Instead, this book stands out for what matters most: Crews' story, bluntly told." —Elle magazine

ABOUT THE BOOK

For fans of Jeannette Walls’ The Glass Castle, an unflinching, emotional memoir by the hearing daughter of two deaf parents, about the rampant dysfunction of her rural Texas childhood and the searing violence that left her father serving a twenty-year prison sentence.

Successful New York producer and publicist Kambri Crews always knew that her childhood was unusual– she spent much of it in a tin shack deep with her family in the woods of Texas. But when, in her early 30s, her charismatic and adored father is sentenced to twenty years in prison for stabbing and nearly killing his girlfriend, she must confront for the first time his violent, destructive behavior. In her brutally honest, completely captivating memoir, Crews struggles to forge a relationship with her incarcerated father and revisits her unconventional family and the long road she took to her current life

* Read a FREE excerpt  * Read reviews & blurbs  * View pictures of the tin shed

Christmas Wishes & Satellite Dishes

My jailed deaf dad wrote with his Christmas wish list. He's jealous of the other inmates with New Balance sneakers & wants a pair for himself. I don't want to disappoint him, but I think Santa knows that he's been naughty.

Ahhh, who am I kidding, I'll get him the shoes. They're out of stock in his size right now but I sent the extra $40 for his inmate trust fund to cover the cost.

The other inmates apparently know how resourceful I am for Dad, conducting research & ordering things for him, so they asked him to enlist my help in getting their satellite television restored. This is the second of two pages outlining their frustration and the technical glitches. I ignored the indignation they showed at not being able to watch cable TV, a luxury to some folks. Inmates have absolutely nothing so the weirdest, most minor things can cause a riot. Cable? Huge. HUGE! It's safer for everyone if they have a working television. I shared this page because, well, you'll see. Classic Dad.

Oh yeah, and he also wrote to give me a heads up that he made a mistake & gave a sex offender inmate my address. Just what I need, another pen pal.

Cigo's Homemade Hot Damn Picante

Are you in prison & craving some hot sauce? Well Dad will teach you how to make some in your cell.

Since fresh ingredients aren't readily available, he "pays" an inmate working the chow line for an onion with stamps and other currency in the form of commissary items.

Bonus: This recipe ferments a bit so you get a little buzz with the bite.

But I won't need to get drunk on Dad's prison picante sauce, because I got an amazing, surprise package of salsa and dip mixes from the proprietor of Big Dawg Salsa in Gainesville, TX. The mixes smell incredible. I can't wait to try these out over the holidays.

Check out their site here: www.bigdawgsalsa.com

Another First

This is a week of firsts for me it seems. I created my first promotion and my first raffle and today I received my first review. From Publishers Weekly, no less.

They call my memoir "intensely readable" and say I "paint a vivid portrait of an impoverished childhood in rural Texas with hearing-impaired parents..."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!